Commercials
are as much a part of Super Bowl entertainment as the action on the field.

This year Anheuser-Busch teamed with the
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to focus attention on America's military in one
of their new ads and former Fairhope resident Shannon Cantwell played a major
part in making it happen.

Cantwell,
a graduate of Furman University and Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, is
currently serving as Deputy Press Secretary and Legislative Correspondent for
Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby.

Last
year at a political conference in Washington, she was introduced to 1st
Lt. Charles Nadd, a recent West Point graduate and Black Hawk helicopter
pilot. After dating for two months, Nadd
was deployed to Afghanistan but the couple stayed in touch via Skype and
email.

Cantwell entered Nadd's name into
a national competition sponsored by the VFW to honor returning members of the
military, and in January Nadd was honored by his hometown of Winter Park,
Fla., VFW and Anheuser Busch with a welcome home parade. As part of the surprise welcome, Cantwell
greeted him at the airport and joined him on the Budweiser carriage ride
through downtown Winter Park.

"We had
kept everything a secret and only told Chuck he was part of a
documentary being filmed about the military," Cantwell said. "He was speechless, shocked and
delighted with all the attention."

The
couple was invited to attend Super Bowl XLVIII which Cantwell described as an electric
atmosphere.

"I've watched the game on
TV, but everything about being there is so much more
impressive," Cantwell said. "And we stayed until the end
because we didn't want to miss anything."

Cantwell
and Nadd had the experience of a lifetime, but the couple agreed that the commercial
was not really about the two of them.

"We are hoping this campaign will encourage other communities to rally
around their hometown heroes, those who have sacrificed so much, and really show their appreciation for those
who are fighting for our freedom."